Coronavirus: Christmas requires 'national conversation' to ensure people can have 'some company', minister says
Vaughan Gething admits it is going to be "dislocating", but that everyone should have "some company" over the festive period.
Friday 23 October 2020 13:48, UK
Christmas will be "very difficult" this year because of coronavirus social distancing restrictions, the Welsh health minister has told Sky News.
Vaughan Gething said there needed to be a "national conversation about the rules we're all going to need to follow" to make sure everyone can have "some company" over the festive period.
He admitted it would be "dislocating" for some and that he has not hugged his own mother for seven months, as Wales prepares to enter a 17-day national lockdown to stem a COVID-19 second spike.
Mr Gething was pressed on whether family gatherings will be able to go ahead, after Scotland's national clinical director Professor Jason Leitch said people should brace for a "digital Christmas".
He said the so-called "fire breaker", which will see non-essential shops ordered to close from tonight until Monday 9 November, was needed to get ahead of coronavirus this winter as cases and deaths rise.
"We're acting now because we want people to have some company at Christmas," the Labour politician told Kay Burley.
"We've got to have a national conversation about the rules that we're all going to need to follow afterwards to make sure people can have some company at Christmas. But it is dislocating.
"I've not been able to hug my own mother for seven months now. I do her shopping, but I can't go into the house, can't see her, can't hold her hand and that's really dislocating.
"I want people to have some sense of normality but it won't be like last Christmas.
"It'll still be a very difficult sort of Christmas. That's part of the reason why this national effort is so important - we do this with a heavy heart."
Mr Gething also said a fire breaker was the "best prospect of arresting the sharp rise we're seeing in coronavirus cases" across the country.
And he defended the plan to stop supermarkets from selling some non-essential items like hairdryers and other electronic products, to avoid putting other shops forced to close at a disadvantage.
In England, Boris Johnson's spokesman said: "The PM has been clear previously that he is hopeful that in many ways we could be able to get some aspects of our lives back to normal by Christmas.
"As I say, we've been clear about the ambition to ensure that people may celebrate Christmas as a family this year."